Somebody, don’t forget the pets, please!

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Urban Compassion Project provides relief assistance to pets affected in the LA wildfire.

Supriya Golas, President of Urban Compassion Project. PHOTO: Linkedin

While a lot of local organizations, national non-profits, celebrities and individuals have been putting out tremendous efforts to help the Los Angeles wildfire victims, one organization has seen to it that the pets, who lost their homes too, are not neglected and are also served.

Urban Compassion Project (UCP), an Oakland nonprofit, with its founder Vincent Williams and President Supriya Golas, has been collecting donations in pet supplies to deliver to the areas affected by the wildfire.

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The supplies were collected by UCP at a drive through donation drive with the local community in Emeryville which has seen great success. Donations kept coming in till the last minute before Williams and Golas drove the truck off to local animal shelters in the affected area, some of which lost everything and were burned down.

Golas has said in one of her interviews with ABC News that UCP is set to help many places in the area, including Philozoia, which used to help neglected dogs before it burned down in the wildfire.

UCP Clean Up project volunteers in action. PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/urbanparkcleanup/

UCP, with one of its missions to clean up public places, is also geared up to begin their cleanup project in the wildfire affected areas. Shovels, rakes and debris grabbers are being collected to clean up the aftermath of the wildfire when it becomes safe to go in.

Founded by Vincent Williams, Urban Compassion Project aims to improve public spaces in the community, clean parks and encampments, and deal with homelessness. Serving the community, advocating for human rights, especially of youth and people of color and homeless, are on its agenda.

Golas has been with UCP since 2020 when she moved to Oakland, California, in July of that year. What drove her to be part of William’s UCP was the need she could see for help among the homeless in particular and the underserved community to find justice and safe and clean environment.

The big divide between the rich and the poor in the area struck her with the necessity to do something. William’s own story of being homeless for years affected Golas and she has been working with the organization since then, rising to her current position of President.

Caption: UCP Clean Up project after cleaning up a public place. PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/urbanparkcleanup/

Golas has a history in volunteering and caring for wildlife. She has volunteered earlier in rural Kenya running beekeeping trainings. A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, Golas has received the Beyond Yourself – Defining Principle Award. She is currently pursuing an MBA degree at UC Berkeley.

Golas works at Intuit For Education creating financial literacy programs and products. After learning about playful learning and its potential applications, Golas  has developed web based simulations for the classroom.

 UCP has achieved remarkable goals till date. It has helped house 166 persons and has removed 352 tons of trash from waterlines, parks, encampments and other public areas. Entirely volunteer driven, UCP has close to 700 volunteers participating in its projects.